Springfield city website being restored after hack

Mar. 6, 2012

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| News-Leader Staff

A search function that allows residents to look up recently issued building permits on the city’s website is working again, and other online tools are being restored.

The city disabled the permit search and other interactive functions at springfieldmo.gov after the site was compromised Feb. 17.

Hackers affiliated with the group Anonymous have claimed responsibility for the intrusion, during which they reportedly accessed the personal information of about 2,100 people while targeting a part of the website used by the Springfield Police Department.

The city has released few details of the attack or subsequent investigation. City officials initially said that an unnamed federal agency had prohibited them from disclosing that information. They later retracted that assertion, saying the order came from Police Chief Paul Williams.

City spokeswoman Cora Scott on Monday said the city was “right at halfway through bringing the site back up to full functionality.”

The permit search was restored during the past week, she said, although some records still could not be accessed when the News-Leader checked Monday.

Scott said the focus Monday was on restoring other Building Development Services functions for requesting inspections or making payments online.

A search function on the police department site that allows residents to search for recent calls for service also will be restored soon, she said.